O N MONDAY, Japan Airlines will start flying three times a week nonstop from Tokyo to Dallas/Fort Worth. If you're headed to Texas, carry a good book: The flight there takes just over 11 hours -- and 13 hours on the way back, thanks to head winds.

JAL's new route isn't the result of a sudden rush by its mainly Japanese clientele for homes on the range. It is part of an effort by JAL to survive in a cutthroat marketplace. After a bitter trade dispute, the U.S. and Japan agreed a little over a year ago to revise a...